Late Dinner

[Baram Morgan]

Baram hesitantly entered the cafeteria. It had been a long while since when he had gone beserk and tried to strangle a small girl. Or at least that's what Asher told him. He got his food and sat down by one of the walls, so his back was protected but he didn't feel confined.

He nibbled idly on his food, feeling too nervous to eat since Rudy said that he would be sending Odette to meet him today. He tried to move his bangs to hide his black eye but it probably didnt make that much of a difference. He looked down at his wrist where he had tied the ribbon that his gift had been wrapped in. A smile softly curled across his lips. He wasn't sure why but he liked it.

[Odette Cohen]

Odette ambled into the cafeteria with a book held to her chest. Rudy had told her what time to be there, and she was ecstatic that Baram was eating in the cafeteria again. Baby had been reluctant to tell her what had happened, but Rudy had related the incident to her.

Regardless, Baram was back, and Odette twined a bit of hair around her fingertip as she scanned the room to look for him. A smile curled across her face when she spotted his figure at a table far to one side, and made her way carefully towards him.

"H-how have you been?" She tipped her head when she reached the table and hugged her book tighter. That shiner looked like it hurt...

[Baram Morgan]

He looked up at her and smiled. "H-hey." He could feel his heart flutter for a second and did his best to not let it show. "Oh, I've been alright. Just trying to work through some stuff."

He fixed his hair a bit. "Rudy gave me the rose quartz. Thank you, I really appreciate it." He looked at her and chuckled. "I don't know what I've done to be blessed with someone as kind of you but thank you. Will you be able to stay here for a while?"

[Odette Cohen]

Odette bit her lip and nodded. "You're w-welcome, Baram. I just wish I could've taken it to you m-myself." She felt herself beginning to blush and sputtered something about enjoying doing things for him, and started to add that she thought him sweet but her words turned into an indistinct mumble before she could produce that particular sentiment.

She nodded at his question, took the seat near his and gently set her book down on the tabletop. It was a well-worn copy of Dreamcatcher. She instinctively began to reach up, wanting to check his eye and his lip, but hesitated and decided to brush a strand of his hair out of the way instead.

"Does your lip hurt? Or your eye?" She figured he must have gotten them in a training session, because he would be in a much lower mood if he had gotten into another fight. She knew that he was sturdy and could probably take a ton of punishment, but that didn't stop her from worrying.

It also felt nice when he smiled and assured her that he was okay. Baram's smile was... well.

Odette tucked her hair behind her ear and looked him over with a little grin of her own. "H-how have your sessions been going? With Asher and Oak-kleigh?"

[Baram Morgan]

He tipped his head trying to figure out her mumbles but decided that if she wanted to be heard she would do so. He smiled when she sat down with him and licked his lip. "Oh, yeah. It's fine. It hurt a lot more when I snapped out of everything. Asher knows how to work someone over really well." He chuckled and looked at her through his bangs.

He wasn't sure why he was feeling so nervous. Come on man, be smooth. He smiled and nodded. "Lessons have been going well. I mean, they are letting me come here all by myself. Oakleigh thinks I'm headed in a better direction than I was. . . before I talked with you in the garden." He felt his cheeks warm a bit and he looked at her book on the table. "What is that?" he asked sounding interested.

[Odette Cohen]

Odette hummed and tapped her fingers gently on the countertop. Her eye caught the movement of him licking his lip and she dropped her gaze to the table to avoid being caught staring. The sudden urge to try to scoot closer to him made her blush deepen.

"Dreamcatcher?" She brushed the worn cover. "A g-group of old friends with m-minor powers get a winter cabin and get snowed in, and there are aliens and a p-plot to take over the earth..." She giggled and pushed the book towards him. "It's a little bit g-gory, but I like it. I c-c-can't watch the movie, though."

[Baram Morgan]

He chuckled and he gently picked up the book. "You continue to surprise me, Odette. I didn't think you would be one that really liked gore." He flipped through the book and skimmed the first few lines.

"Can you not watch the movie because you will get scared and. . ." He didn't think he needed to finish. Odette would know what he was talking about. He could feel his lip sting a bit when he smiled but he couldn't help himself. "I'm just glad that my face right now isn't too messed up for you. My sister would be scolding me and telling me to bandage my face up."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette swayed a bit to show her approval. "I can handle certain kinds of horror," she explained, "b-but the movie is m-much more stressful. I do get s-scared."

She looked him over and made a tiny kitten noise. "I l-like your face, B-Baram." She rubbed her nose in an attempt to cover the shade a pink she knew she must be by this point. "I'm n-not going to lie, I really w-w-wanted to baby you when I s-saw your black eye. I know you can t-take a lot, but I still want to worry about you."

[Baram Morgan]

He smiled and set the book down back in front of her. He leaned closer to her and bent down slightly so he could look into her eyes. "Listen, Little Flower, You can baby me a bit if you want to. I only really get tough love from Asher so I wouldn't mind a little tenderness now and again, especially if it is coming from you."

He could feel warmth rising from his neck up to his cheeks. If he wasn't blushing before he probably was now. He grumble-cleared his throat and moved a bit away, running a hand through his hair. "Only if you want to, of course."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette bit her lip, her expression softening as she felt the warm fuzzies fog her brain. A nervous chuckle escaped her and she felt brave enough to gingerly hug his arm. "I would be happy to be Asher's f-foil. So if I'm in charge of babying you, does that mean I g-get to see you more often?"

[Baram Morgan]

His hand gently moved to ruffle her hair and he chuckled. "Ummm, I'm not sure. You could probably talk to Oakleigh about it. Right now he's been using Baby to help me become resocialized. And she has really been trying. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

He looked down at her and smiled. "So, I have to ask. Do you like Rudy? The lopsided antler kid that you gave my gift to? He got his hopes up for a second and I told him that you probably were not a fan for artisic asymmetry."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette hummed at the ruffle and rested her cheek on his bicep as he spoke.  Baby had helped her out of some bully-related problems before, and it didn't surprise her in the least to find out she and Baram were so close.  

"B-Baby takes good care of me, too," she mumbled.  "I'm happy that you two found each other again after so l-long."  She looked up at the mention of Rudy and pursed her lips a bit.  "Rudy?  He's nice, and very friendly.  B-but I don't..."  

She grumbled.  She had seen what Rudy was capable of, and though she liked him as a friend, he was a little too aggressive for her tastes.  "I d-don't think he and I would b-be very c-c-comp-p-p--"

Her cheeks turned bright pink and she took a second to breathe out and collect her words.  Of all the times for her stutter to act up, she wish it wouldn't happen in front of Baram.  "Rudy and I wouldn't get along as a c-couple."

She smiled again, and sat up to start combing her hair over one shoulder.  "You can tell Rudy that there's another p-person who has my interest."

[Baram Morgan]

"I'm glad she was there to take care of you. You know, if I can help you in any way, all you have to do is ask and I will do it. You've done so much for me that I at least owe you that much. Besides, one of the reasons why Baby and I have been friends for so long is because she usually is not used to being protected so someone had to go about it in a sneaky way."

He chuckled when she first started talking about Rudy. When she got caught in a stutter he waited patiently. After a moment he placed his hand gently on her cheek and smiled. " Oh? someone else? He might ask questions so you might want to tell me more about this person." Baram was being hopefull for once instead of instantly going to jealousy. He didn't want to accidentally scare her. . . besides. If what Rudy had been saying was true, maybe she did like him.

[Odette Cohen]

"Being protective in a sneaky way?" Odette looked at him curiously, and blinked several times to find his hand at her cheek. Again came those warm fuzzies, and she had to mentally fight to not just start nuzzling his palm.

"Well, he's a b-big guy." She pretended to have to mull over the details for a moment, letting her gaze shift up and to one side. "Looks like he might be a troublemaker, b-but he's actually very sweet. He walked into the Grotto one day and I m-may or may not have become a h-hopeless case where he is involved."

[Baram Morgan]

He pondered for a moment. "More of stopping problems before they can be a problem. Baby can sometimes get into fights and guys were less likely to start something with someone like me around." He chuckled. "So, stuff like that."

He grumble mumbled. "That doesn't say much about him." He nervously ran a hand through his hair again, feeling his face getting warm. Fighting off the feeling of jealousy that was rising in him he glanced at her. "I-I do really like you, Odette. . . just I don't want to hurt you. You are too precious."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette's brow furrowed and she worried one of her fingertips against her lower lip. She tugged on his sleeve with her free hand and tried to give him a smile, despite a pinprick of dread growing in her chest. That sounded vaguely like he was telling her to give him space, and now she was worried for a whole new reason.

"I... I d-don't think you would hurt me," she managed after a long moment, though her voice was more of a whisper. "I know how the B-Berserker thing works, but I also know how d-determined you are to gain control over it. You're w-working so hard to b-be yourself again. And the more of Baram I g-get to see, the more I like him."

[Baram Morgan]

He felt the heavyness in his chest. He wanted to be able to scoop her up in his arms and tell her everything would be fine. But he couldn't promise her that, not yet.

He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. He tipped his head to whisper into her hair. "It's okay, Little Flower. I know that I would never intentionally hurt you, but I can't fully control myself yet when I snap." He sighed and straightened his back. His hand opened and gently found hers. "I really like you Odette and I would want nothing more than to ask you to. . ." He blushe and his words caught in his throat a bit. He grumble coughed a bit and tried again. "I want to date you. . .but I don't know if that is what is best, you know?" He looked at her and gave her hand a small squeeze. "I-it doesn't mean not ever just. . .not right now. I just couldn't live with myself if something happened to you because of me. . .because I wasn't ready."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette felt her pulse flutter when Baram leaned in to kiss her forehead, but this was immediately followed by a lump in her throat. Some part of her knew that this would be Baram's response, but he did like her back, and that made the letdown much less painful. Odette laced her fingers with his and lifted their hands so that she could brush Baram's knuckles against her cheek.

"I understand," she managed, and gave him a small but genuine smile. "P-promise that you'll k-keep working hard? I mean, you always do, but... maybe put me somewhere on your list of r-reasons for working hard."

Her smile gained a mischievous tint and she chuckled. "I s-still get to be in charge of babying you a little in the meant-t-time though, right? I like you too much to pretend otherwise."

[Baram Morgan]

He returned her smile and brushed her bangs out of her hair. "You've been inspiring me to try to do better since you helped me in the rose garden. You've already done so much for me and I hope that one day I can try to pay you back."

He chuckled. "Please do. I'm very okay with that." He lifted their hands so he could kiss her knuckles, looking at her through his bangs. "I really like you too. So consider our feelings mutual."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette melted a little and let out a happy little humming noise, worried that if she tried to use words she would make an absolute fool of herself. She bit her lip and gave his hand a squeeze. When she spoke, there was a new brightness in her voice. "You're g-going to make the wait very difficult, aren't you Baram?"

[Baram Morgan]

He chuckled and shaked his bangs out of his face. Maybe it was time for a haircut? "I'm not going to make it difficult intentionally. I'm just being me, my little Flower. But I suppose that you enjoy me being me. Well, the me that doesn't break things."

He held up his wrist with the ribbon wrapped around it. "I'm going to keep this here as a reminder, if that's okay it might help." He looked down and smiled at their interlaced fingers. "If it's not too much to ask.... can I have some of your perfume oil? The sent helps calm me down a bit."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette reached up to brush his hair out of his face for him. "I enjoy you b-being you very much, Baram." She beamed when he showed her the ribbon, cheeks turning pink all over again, and nodded her agreement. "I c-can make you a vial in no time. As many as you want."

[Baram Morgan]

His eyes softened and he Ruffled her bar a bit, quickly fixing it. "Thank you. I feel bad asking a bit more of you."

He rolled his shoulders and grumbled, feeling a bit sore from earlier. "So, how have you been since last I saw you? We've been doing a lot of taking about me."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette watched Baram's shoulder roll and pouted her lips a tiny bit. "Are you sore?"

She tipped her head as the thought. "I've b-been doing well. The G-Grotto's been a little b-busier lately, and I haven't had anyone give me any trouble, which I'm v-very happy about."

[Baram Morgan]

He smiles and shrugged. "Eh just a bit but that is to be expected."

He watched her speak and nodded. "Do you normally have people that give you trouble?" He arched an eyebrow and grumbled. "If you need me to come and walk you home or anything I can try to get permission from Professor Oakleigh."

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